According to a familiar cliché, a picture is worth a thousand words. Your favorite celebrities—including rappers—are doing less and less press, but luckily their thumbs and smartphones still work. Instagram has provided a way for them to document their lives and/or thoroughly embarrass themselves for our collective enjoyment. The beauty of it all is that you don’t even need to join Instagram, as most rappers are perfectly fine leaving their feeds open for public viewing. And if you’d rather avoid the IG life altogether, we’ve filtered through the top rapper’s pictures and videos and consolidated all the week’s events into one convenient feed.
This week, Chance the Rapper takes kids on a field trip, Ludacris hints at appearing on Empire, and Flava Flav says he is bailing Bobby Shmurda out of jail.
Will Drake Talk Meek Mill On Episode 2 Of OVO Radio
Talk of whether or not Drizzy has a ghostwriter has dominated the airwaves this week, setting off a debate about the merits of writing one’s own lyrics. Whatever you think real Hip Hop is, Drake has a chance to answer the rumors on his own show tonight at 6 pm on Apple Music. We shall see if he chooses to. Caption: “6 PM on Apple Radio”
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Lupe Fiasco Address Ghostwriting In Rap
Shout out to Lupe Fiasco for keeping it real. In an open letter addressed “to rappers from a rapper,” Lupe offered his thoughts on the debacle between Meek Mill and Drake, stating ghostwriting will always be a part of rap. Here’s part 1. Caption: “The Haunting. A Letter Part 1 of 2. To rappers from a rapper…simply write your own rhymes as much as you can if you are able. Ghostwriting, or borrowing lines, or taking suggestions from the room has always been in rap and will always be in rap. It is nothing to go crazy over or be offended about unless you are someone who postures him or herself on the importance of authenticity and tries to portray that quality to your fans or the public at large. Then we might have a problem. Some of the most pivotal moments in rap have been ghostwritten verses. This leads to a bigger point. Rapping is not an easy thing to do. It takes years of work and trial and error to master some of its finer points. Respect from other MC’s comes in many formats. Sales, live performances, realness etc but the one thing that is the most important is the raps themselves at least in the eyes of other serious rappers. The phrase “I’m not a rapper” gets thrown around as if it’s a badge of honor. And that’s fine. If rap is a side hustle for you or just a come up then by all means may the force be with you. But I know a lot of MC’s where rap is the first love and the first thing they think about when they wake up and the last thing they think about when they go to sleep. Rappers who pursue the art form with this level of intention may not become rich and famous off selling their raps to a wide audience but that has never been an accepted metric to begin with in terms of quality or level of skill. The vast majority of rappers will never sell 100 records in their lifetimes let alone millions. But that’s not the point, the point is that what pursuing the craft gives us in terms of the intangibles is something that record sales or fame could never represent. We achieve a mastery of language and poetics that competes on the highest levels of discourse across the entirety of human history. We express ourselves creatively and attain a sense of liberation and self-esteem via this sacred mode of creation and communication.”
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Drake Responds To Meek Mill’s Tweet
Staying low key, Drake responds to Meek Mill calling him out on not writing his own raps. In a conversation with battle rapper and Wild ‘N Out member Hitman Holla, Drake says that Meek Mill’s remarks are expected. Caption: “@champagnepapi my dude and he motivate a young nigga like me!! SAUTE DRIZZY”
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Drake Pays Tribute To Fan Who Passed Away
Thanks to the #DrakeNoticeJamal hashtag, Toronto, Drake was recently made aware of the passing of one of his biggest fans. Upon receiving word of the fan, 17-year-old Jamal Utton’s death, Drake posted a tribute to Utton. Caption: “Heard this young man was a big fan. Rest In Peace Jamal. Watch over me from way up above!”
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Future Announces Free Show In 4 Major Cities
http://instagram.com/p/5UwpAuEoBC/
In light of his recent album Dirty Sprite 2, Future has announced free shows in four major cities for his fans. Taking place in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, the mini-tour is titled “Salute The Fans.” Caption: “#DirtySprite2”
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Chance The Rapper Takes Children To Chicago Planetarium
Fresh off his performance at Pitchfork, Chance the Rapper took some children to the planetarium on July 21. He shares the experience where he shows a handful of kids filling out a worksheet at an exhibit. Caption: “FIELD TRIP WITH HERMITAGE PARK AND MORAN PARK TO THE ADLER PLANETARIUM!! We in space yall!!!”
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Ludacris Hints At Role In Season 2 Of “Empire”
Ludacris recently hinted at his involvement in the second season of Fox’s TV show Empire. Here, he is posted alongside Terrence Howard, who plays Lucious Lyon, whose character was sent to jail at the end of the first season Caption: “This could get interesting….. #empireseason2”
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Flavor Flav To Bail Bobby Shmurda Out Of Jail
Flavor Flav recently revealed that he plans to bail Bobby Shmurda out of prison. The Public Enemy member stated that he was on his way to free the Bobby, while waving around some cash. Caption: “Can’t get any better then the Legendary Hip Hop Hype man himself supporting your release @flavorflav4real @sosog_al … Show your support people and hashtag #freeshmurda #shmurdawasthecasethattheygaveme #hiphop #freebobbyshmurda #freebobby”
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DJ Mustard Announces “10 Summers: The Mixtape”
http://instagram.com/p/5XoEhNKw9v/
Don’t get it twisted. This is not the sequel to his previous “Ketchup” mixtape from 2013. The Los Angeles producer says the project is for his 10 Summers Records label and is scheduled for a July 23 release date. Caption: “This ain’t my album this ain’t ketchup 2 this is my label mixtape for my label !!! #10summers …. Word to @allblck …. That album coming for pay attention !”
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Dr. Dre & DJ Premier “Putting In Work”
Dr. Dre and DJ Premier were recently sighted together in what appears, to be a recording studio. “Time to make history now,” DJ Premier’s manager wrote on IG. “More news to come. DR. DRE X DJ PREMIER.” Caption: “PUTTIN’ IN WORK…#premierwuzhere”
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Casey Veggies Releases Cover Art For “Live And Grow”
Casey Veggies took to IG to post the cover art for his upcoming project Live & Grow. The art shows four people on a street in a progression from a child to a man. It is also reminiscent of The Beatles’ cover for Abbey Road, which shows the four members walking across a street. Caption: “#LiveAndGrow Front Cover. September 25th!! Pre-Order: August 7th”
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Nick Cannon Is Hospitalized
Apparently, Nick Cannon’s #grindmode has landed him in the hospital. He posts a selfie of himself in a hospital bed hooked up to a bunch of monitors. It looks like he suffered from exhaustion. Caption: “Dont worry, Temporary pit stop… Sometimes I can be a little too bull headed and stubborn. I gotta stop running my body to the ground. I be wanting to grind nonstop but the engine can’t run on fumes. On the low though, I really think I’m a superhero… Now I’m not saying I’m Batman, but I am saying nobody has ever seen me and Batman in the same room together. LOL #ImGood”
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Tink Announces Next Mixtape “Winter’s Diary 3”
Nothing beats a screenshot of a Tweet to get the point across. Tink is excited to announce the third installment to her mixtape series. “Winter’s Diary 3” will be released this month. She is also working on her album #thinkTINK. Caption: “Follow your heart. #WD3”
